Jumblatt: UNSCR 1559 killed martyr Rafik Hairi, Saad Hariri should be satisfied with the truth

Source: almanar.com.lb & Nowlebanon, 29-5-2009

The head of the Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc MP Walid Jumblatt, who is also one of the main constituents of the March 14 political camp, drew the public's attention Thursday night when he unveiled - again - that former Prime Minister martyr Rafik Hariri had never supported UNSC resolution 1559.

The resolution that was adopted nearly seven months before Hariri was assassinated in February 2005, calls for the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon and the disarmament of all militias, in a clear reference to Hizbullah's resistance.

Since then, Lebanon and Syria came under tremendous international pressure to implement the resolution. Syria, which was already packing for departure, was even threatened with dealing with it militarily under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter.

Eventually, Hariri was murdered after Syrian President Bashar Assad announced his intention to pull his troops out of Lebanon. The arms of the resistance issue, however, remained pending.

Jumblatt assured that he and martyr Hariri had agreed not to support resolution 1559 and to remain committed to the Taif Accord. According to him "1559 is the resolution that killed Hariri." The Druze leader has been following a review policy ever since the Special Tribunal for Lebanon ordered the release of the four security generals from Lebanese jails, after spending four years in political detention over the Hariri murder case, without charges and without trial.

It is not the first time the Progressive Socialist Party leader makes this mention. He made similar remarks to the Arabiyyah satellite channel in 2005. But since then, his note was buried in the waves of information, rumors and lies that have encircled Lebanon.
Jumblatt has renewed his revelation which also succeeded to surprise his prominent LBCI interviewer.

Ever since his assassination, martyr Hariri was introduced by some March 14 forces as the first proponent of resolution 1559 which "was the result of a joint action between the United States and France," according to then French President Jacques Chirac, to give the impression that Hariri was killed for trying to implement the resolution.

However, Jumblatt's revelations contradict such claim. The PSP leader had accompanied Hariri to Washington to meet with then US President George W. Bush, shortly after the Security Council adopted UNSCR 1559. It was to him that martyr Hariri had confided - following another meeting with Chirac - that "this resolution will cause us many problems."

This shows that martyr Hariri was not inclined to implement the resolution word for word, as Bush and Chirac wanted him to.

Moreover, Jumblatt's revelations are consistent with the speech of Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah following the assassination of Hariri. The Hizbullah leader revealed that meetings were held regularly between him and Hariri, in the presence of advisers on both sides, with the aim to discuss the article pertaining to the resistance weapons. Sayyed Nasrallah revealed that martyr Hariri had vowed to never accept the clause related to the resistance and said that even if international pressure was exerted on him in that direction, he would resign and leave the country but still refuse to disarm the resistance.

Both were fully aware of "Israel's" hallmarks in the resolution, that clearly aimed at eradicating the strength of Lebanon; the only Arab country to force the Zionist enemy out of Lebanon without having to sign political agreements or humiliating concessions.

Sayyed Nasrallah's revelations helped neutralizing all attempts to implicate Hizbullah in martyr Hariri's assassination. Hence they should have prompted the international investigation to approach the murder from another angle than the one circulated and propagated by some forces who claimed that Hariri was killed because he wanted to enforce the UN resolution, while Jumblatt stresses that the martyr did not support it and preferred to stick to the Taif Accord.

However, Jumblatt told LBC on Thursday night that Future Movement leader Saad Hariri "should be satisfied with the truth," and should not seek vengeance if it seems the verdict of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon "could cause national strife."

"Our situation is very dangerous, and there might be additional spy networks," aside from the tens of espionage cells uncovered in the past few months across Lebanon, he added.

Also on "Israel", Jumblatt told his interviewer, "What Der Spiegel magazine said in its article, about the involvement of Hizbullah in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, is a time bomb... The connections between "Israel" and Der Spiegel are known to everyone. "Israel" wants Sunni-Shia strife in Lebanon, which can be only avoided if the wise people in Lebanon, headed by [Future Movement leader MP] Saad Hariri, come together."

He said that UN Resolution 1559 killed Rafik Hariri, and that Hariri was afraid of the consequences of this resolution at the time.
"Today, we do not want Der Spiegel to kill Hariri again," he said.

Things are happening very fast," said Jumblatt. "An extremist government was formed lately in "Israel", North Korea is resuming its nuclear program, and "Israel" might strike Iran. Lebanon is the perfect arena for all of these conflicts, and Hizbullah might respond militarily."

Then, addressing Hizbullah, he said, "Is it better for you to stay secluded as a party and as a sect and as a target for "Israel", or for you to be protected by the unity of the Lebanese people?"

"Nasrallah should help us prevent Lebanon from staying as an arena [for others' conflicts], because it looks like the Americans, Syria and "Israel" do not want Lebanon to be a state."
He said he believes that the victory of March 14 in the upcoming parliamentary elections will delay Lebanon's descent into an arena for international conflicts, adding that March 8 offers the country totalitarian feudalism, while March 14 offers democratic feudalism.

"This is why March 14 needs a new vision after the elections," he said.
He added that if March 8 wins the elections, then "they will postpone the demarcation of their borders with Syria in the Shibaa Farms in order to wait for any settlement between Syria and "Israel". The issue of the Palestinians in Lebanon and the issue of missing Lebanese people will be frozen, too."

However, Jumblatt said, if March 14 wins, "they can lobby internally and maybe with the international community for these issues. If March 8 wins, they will say that the issue of Hizbullah's arms is postponed and that the Lebanese should be satisfied with co-existence and coordination between the state and the Resistance, while if March 14 wins they will persist with dialogue until a normal situation is reached."

He also noted that the Taif Accord divided power equally between Christians and Muslims, regardless of their demographics, instead of a tripartite division of power between the country's Shia, Sunni and Christian populations.

"The three-way sharing of power brings us chaos," he said, adding that sources told him that Speaker Nabih Berri is against this form of government, while others want both a three-way power-sharing system and a "third vote", or veto power in the cabinet.
"We can't have a president who is only a referee," he said.